If you can't beat 'em, diversify your consumer electronics portfolio until your company no longer relies exclusively on a single market. While that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, it may indeed be HTC's new corporate strategy, if the latest report from Bloomberg is accurate. According to "a person familiar with [HTC's] plans," the Taiwanese phone maker is planning on showing off a stand-alone camera during its October 8th press event in New York City.

A bad Photoshop mockup based on Sony's POV Action Cam.

The unnamed tipster was very specific about the specifications and physical description for this camera. First of all, it's a small, rugged action camera, closer to a GoPro camera than a point-and-shoot. The cylindrical camera reportedly uses a wide-angle lens and a 16MP sensor, with both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on board for connecting to a proprietary HTC Android and iOS app. The description makes it sound a lot like Sony's Action Cam line of sports cameras. The source also reiterated that HTC's smartwatch plans have been delayed until next year.

The October 8th event is titled "Double Exposure," so a debut of both a phone and a camera seems like a plausible idea. (I had already guessed that HTC is planning to show off a version of the new Desire 820 for American carriers.) That being said, if HTC is looking for diversity after being regularly beaten in a market dominated by a single company... maybe the sports camera segment isn't the best bet.

All of this is technically rumor for the moment, but Bloomberg rarely publishes speculative information like this without some degree of certainty as to its accuracy. We'll see for ourselves next month.